The environment and human rights collide

Environmental protection and human rights are two fields traditionally considered distinctly from one another. Some groups advocate for less pollution, a reduction in carbon emissions, or other “green” concerns, while other NGOs focus on torture, human trafficking, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In recent years, however, the line between these two fields has become blurred. Environmental groups are beginning to frame their campaigns in human rights terms, while human rights NGOs have begun to consider environmental effects in the areas their advocate for. This alliance has not been universally welcomed, but it factually cannot be contested. A polluted environment is detrimental to its inhabitants’ human rights.

Photo courtesy of Amnesty International and Josh Schacter.

Though the US is far ahead of many nations in its environmental protection legislation, the country is still one of the largest polluters, per capita, in the world. According to a 2011 EPA report, “approximately 124 million people lived in counties that exceeded one or more national ambient air quality standards in 2010.” That’s equal to 40% of the population. From 2005 to 2010 more than 20% of water treatment systems in the country violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, while the Clean Water Act of 1972 was violated on more than 500,000 occasions. Each month, fossil fuels burned in the US emit 120 million tonnes of CO2, making it the second highest country in the world for greenhouse gas emissions per capita[1]. As a nation, the US also produces 30% of the world’s waste, despite containing only 5% of the world’s population.

These are more than environmental issues. They are human rights violations. Many international conventions specifically state health as a human right, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Article 12). Even those that don’t specifically state a right to health imply its necessity. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, both of which the US has ratified, list rights such as the right to join trade unions and to vote. These can, obviously, only be fulfilled when an individual is healthy enough to do. When Americans are denied the chance to attain the highest level of health possible because of the way in which chemicals are disposed, they are denied the chance to lead a minimally good life[2].

From Amnesty, International: Two young girls stand outside the dilapidated premises of the infamous Union Carbide plant December 1, 2012 in Bhopal, India. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

Environmental protection and human rights cannot continue to exist distinctly from one another. They are inextricably intertwined, and that must be recognized not only by activists in the two fields, but by businesses, politicians, and the general public. The statistics above do not even capture the full effect of American pollution, much of which is felt in other countries around the world (as America too feels the effects of the environmental degradation of other nations). Pollution has become so pervasive that, in order to be curbed, we, as a country and a world, need to step up and demand our rights. It may be the only way to truly change such an entrenched acceptance of violations.

4 Responses

This is a very well researched and well written article about the links between environmental damage and human rights violations. It’s a broad topic that can’t be contained in just one article but some of the key points that come to mind immediately are:

The loss of habitable land due to sea level rise and extreme weather events secondary to global warming.

The increase of civil and territorial wars in response to drought and inability to provide food and water.

Displacement of large groups of people due to pollution, development (including dams and destruction of forests and farmland), and wars.

The increase of diseases secondary to pollution with toxic chemicals, proliferation of vectors such as biting insects as the climate changes and they breed for more of the year.

Interference with the attempts to regulate pollution and to keep the environment healthy through the proliferation of more and more Trade Agreements that allow corporations to evade local and national laws and regulation. The latest is the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement which I sincerely hope is not “fast tracked” and does not pass without full disclosure of its provisions and a full Congressional debate.

Tom Baker, you’re thinking very small in this situation. Jobs primarily go “overseas” because of corporate profit motives. If you insist on viewing the whole world as just the United States you can see the same pattern here with companies moving jobs to the cheapest places.

I’m not sure what you mean by “enviro-kooks” but the whole world is suffering from the climate changes taking place on our watch. This has gone far beyond the “job” issue and we often find that in places where alternative energy sources and fuels are developed there is a net gain of jobs.

When you say “having an opportunity to earn a decent living” are you talking about yourself? What about the people of Bangladesh, Pakistan, The Maldives, Nigeria,Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, the Philippines, Greece, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Haiti, Honduras — to name a few?

Do you believe that the United States is isolated from the rest of the world and from the changes generated by wars, capital flight and climate change (the most far reaching of all and ultimately the greatest threat to life and livelihood?

Kadin, Thanks for pointing out that there was no link included in my original comment because I was trying to post the embed code for a video version of the story about Yeb Saño’s eloquent speech about the urgency of taking action NOW.

So here’s the comment and the link to the story/video:

Tom Baker ~~ and other readers who value the rights of all to a safe and sustainable world here’s a very eloquent statement by the head of the Philippines’ climate change delegation, Yeb Saño delivered where international meetings are taking place right now in Warsaw, Poland on that very question: